Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Last week we had a conference call with a group of bloggers and I talked about how, I feel, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee gets a bad rap. Of all the DC committees, it covers the most ground and moves the fastest. When a congressional campaign hits the panic button, the DCCC swings in to action, swoops down and spends a lot of money in a district - and we get closer to a Democratic Congress.

I remember working on Tim Holden's race last cycle in Pennsylvania. It was a tight, tough race - and when the going got rough, when it was really down to the wire, the DCCC managed to find some more money to help us pull through. We ended up winning - but it had everything to do with the DCCC's willingness to pull out all the stops at the last minute.

Politics is a fickle business, and it's nearly impossible right now to say where the trouble is going to be a week or two out from November 2. Some seats that seem completely safe right now are going to be in jeopardy, while other seats that seemed a real long shot will become slam dunks. The DCCC has to be quick enough to see the tide turning, jump on opportunities, and re-distribute resources. It's function is pretty unique compared to other political committees.

I think he's right. I'm always supportive of people donating to their favorite candidates directly, but it's also true that the DCCC does have a unique position at this point in the election season. House races can change very fast, in a way that other races generally don't (barring a candidate meltdown of some sort).

The role of the DCCC (and its Republican counterpart) is to be the bonus cards in this election. Your opponent knows you have them, but they don't know when and where you're going to play them. The DCCC can suddenly throw money into a race that the Republicans thought was safe, and they have to have some money in the pot to react if the Republicans try to throw a nuke onto another race.

They provide the election surprises, and the more money they have the more they can do. And, given campaign finance laws, they're really the only organization that can play this role.

You can donate to them here. People regularly ask where the "best" place to send money is right now. I don't think there's one answer to that -- but a case can definitely be made for the DCCC. I set up a pretty big fundraising goal. I don't know if we'll hit it, but I think it's important.